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Check out my post on Gothic Ivories

So why are gothic ivories, a topic I wrote a post on for Cultural Heritage Informatics blog, also relevant to my mortuary archaeology blog? Because a high number of these ivories contain scenes about death and mortuary rites. Primarily they refer to the crucifixion, but other scenes regarding death are included such as the death of Pyramus and Thisbe pictured below.

Even those regarding the crucifixion reveal information about funeral processions. Comparisons of the treatment of Jesus, versus that of Judas, in the death rituals could be potentially revealing. A cursory overview of these contrasting images shows that when Judas dies he is always pictured alone, unregarded by the other participants in the register. Whereas when Jesus is present everyone is facing him and engaging with him.